Insider Buying: Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Director Acquires 4,000 Shares of Stock

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Director Joseph Keough bought 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $66.16 per share, for a total transaction of $264,640.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 41,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,758,872. The trade was a 10.61% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of MTH stock opened at $65.92 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.04 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $66.08 and its 200 day moving average is $74.80. Meritage Homes Co. has a 12 month low of $59.27 and a 12 month high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by ($0.02). Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 15.90%. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.06 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.06%.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 33.1% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 314,323 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $48,349,000 after purchasing an additional 78,087 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 235.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 14,589 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,244,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 47,699 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $7,337,000 after purchasing an additional 4,397 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 84.6% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 3,006 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $462,000 after purchasing an additional 1,378 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MTH shares. UBS Group set a $107.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $89.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.72.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

Meritage Homes Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs and builds single-family attached and detached homes in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Homebuilding and Financial Services. It acquires and develops land; and constructs, markets, and sells homes for entry-level and first move-up buyers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Utah, Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.